Pushed Too Far
by txnightalive
Summary: The Skins Gang are taking it in turns to complete stupid dares for April Fools Day to avoid a painful and embarrassing forfeit. But when Chris pushes Maxxie too hard to do a dare he knows he won't be able to do, he's wracked with guilt when his best friend ends up getting hurt.
I can't believe you actually just did that!" Anwar exclaimed as Chris limped out of the tattoo shop sporting a new tattoo of a massive, spunking cock on his right foot.

Chris shrugged. "Well, I wasn't going to let you dickheads win without a fight, was I?" He turned to Jal with a smirk. "Maybe I should get a fanny on the other foot?"

Jal slapped him hard on the shoulder, a disgusted look etched upon her face. "Gross!" She exclaimed, walking faster to catch up with Michelle. It was April Fools Day and the guys, plus Jal, Cassie and Michelle, were taking it in turns to give each other dares, the forfeit for one of the guys declining a dare being that the girls were allowed to wax either their legs or their arms.

"Who's next?" Tony asked after snapping a picture of Chris' new tattoo and posting it on Instagram. "Hey Sid, there's another little girl over there!"

One of the previous dares was for Sid to kidnap a child, and he'd done just that. He knew the boys were never going to let him live it down, and they took it within their strive to make paedophile references every ten seconds.

"It's Maxxie's turn," Chris smirked. "You pick one, Michelle."

Michelle grinned, taking a puff of her cigarette. "Maxxie, I dare you to go for a cheeky swim with the ducks."

Everyone turned to Maxxie who looked terrified. His jaw dropped. "Sorry, what?"

"She dares you," Tony pointed at Maxxie, "To go for a cheeky swim," the dark-haired boy whirled his arms around to make it look like he was swimming, "In the lake, with the ducks," he pointed to the lake, a smirk etched upon his face.

"It has to be cheeky though," Sid added.

Maxxie stood there, gob smacked. "But it's like, 1 degree," he whined in protest.

Everyone burst into laughter, and Maxxie pouted. "Don't be such a pussy," Anwar smirked, slinging an arm around his best friend's shoulder. "You'll get over it; Chris has a cock stuck on his foot forever."

"Whatever, Maxxie sighed, following the group towards the lake. He took off his coat and peeled off his shirt which was clinging to his skin. The cold instantly hit him, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end.

Jal dipped her hand into the water. "It's fucking freezing, like minus 30 or something!"

"Don't make me do this," Maxxie begged. "Anything but swimming."

Chris slung an arm around the younger boy's shoulders. "She's exaggerating; it's not that cold dickhead. Go on, kick some ass."

Maxxie began to strip, while everyone roared with laughter at the thought of the blonde boy jumping in the freezing cold, filthy water. Maxxie was visibly shaking. "I really don't want to do this," he turned desperately to Chris. "Please man, come on."

"What's wrong with you?" Chris whispered, quietly enough for only Maxxie to hear and concern laced in his voice. "You've done dares like this before."

Maxxie sighed. He couldn't tell Chris the truth; he'd look like such a twat. Everyone would forget about Sid being a child stealer, all laughs would be on him not being able to swim despite being 16 years old. "Are you ready?"

Anwar and Tony held up their phones, ready to take photos of the blonde boy jumping into the water and Maxxie took a few steps back, hardly able to move because of how cold he was. He was only wearing his pants and to say that he was fucking freezing was a complete understatement.

"Go on Maxxie!" Chris yelled. "Jump in, jump in!"

Maxxie took a run up, and began to run towards the water. He could hardly feel his legs and his muscles felt like stone. And with a scream, he leapt in the air and jumped into the water, the freezing cold water engulfing him.

It probably wasn't the best idea for Maxxie to jump into the freezing water with his mouth open, he got a mouthful of water, and was kicking his legs but to no avail. He felt dizzy as he felt himself sinking, and finally allowed his eyes to flutter shut.

Chris was cackling like a maniac, while Jal and Michelle were clutching their stomachs, tears running down their faces in laughter. Cassie had resorted to sitting on the ground because she was laughing too much, Sid was choking with laughter and Anwar had tears streaming down their face, laughing almost as much as Sid was. Tony smirked - he'd gotten Maxxie's feminine scream on camera.

Suddenly Chris' face had gone pale, and he felt himself go numb. It was as if his heart had stopped.

"Chris?" Cassie questioned. "What's wrong?"

"That's why he didn't want to do it," Chris whispered, more to himself than anyone else. "He can't swim." He choked on his words.

Before anyone could register what was going on, Chris himself had ran up to the water's edge and dived into the lake.

Chris' mind was in overdrive. Shit, this cannot be happening. He couldn't find Maxxie anywhere. The lake's waters were so murky that he couldn't even see his own feet. His head broke the surface of the water, and he sucked in a deep breath before diving to the bottom of the water. He wanted to shout, he wanted to scream. How could he be so stupid? Maxxie had told him that he couldn't swim a couple of years after they'd met - it had been his biggest secret, and he'd only confided in Chris. How could Chris forget?

Chris suddenly spotted a flash of blonde. Chris didn't have time to think, he swam towards Maxxie and grabbed under his arms. He's heavy, but Chris managed to pull him to the surface while kicking his legs as hard as he could.

The rest of the group are staring at the water, absolutely frozen. It's Anwar who first leaps into action; he sprints to the edge of the lake and pulls the unconscious Maxxie out of the water. Michelle and Jal follow, and Tony tosses his phone to the floor, not bothered whether it's broken or not.

Cassie and Sid are shaking and stuttering as they join the group, while Tony helps Chris out of the lake.

The boys lay Maxxie on the ground, and Tony helps a freezing and dripping wet Chris to his feet. He looked like he was about to collapse. "Is he…?"

"NO!" Anwar yelled, panicked. He softened his tone before continuing. "Quick, bring me his clothes, give me your jackets, whatever, I don't care. We need to get him warm." Without hesitation, the group each gave their jackets to Anwar who wrapped them around the unconscious boy. His lips were blue, and he had stopped breathing.

Chris was in hysterics. "It's my fault! He's gonna die, I made him do it!"

Tony held him back. "Don't be stupid, Chris, he'll be fine."

"Jal, call an ambulance!" Anwar pressed his fingers against Maxxie's wrist and checked his pulse "His pulse is really weak, shit."

Cassie and Sid were gripping to each other and terrified for their friend. Anwar and Michelle were attempting to cover Maxxie's entire body in their jackets in order to conserve his warmth. Chris was still trying to wrench desperately from Tony's grip.

"Oh my god! I knew he couldn't swim but I made him jump in the lake anyway, I'm such a bad friend. Oh my god is he breathing? I've killed him, haven't I?" Chris took a shaky breath, choking on his sobs. "He's dead. "I've killed my best friend, my brother. What have I done?" he dropped to his knees.

Tony pulled him to his feet and embraced him tightly. "Come on man, he'll be fine."

"The ambulance is on its way," Jal slipped her phone back into her pocket. "The guy on the phone said get someone who can perform CPR to do it, if not, turn him over and put him in the recovery position because he's probably swallowed loads of water."

Anwar and Michelle were about to roll him over when Chris managed to pull out from Tony's tight hold. "Move! Fucking move!" Chris pushed Anwar out of the way and crouched down next to Maxxie. "I'll do it, I did a first aid course last year."

The group watched in astonishment as Chris tilts Maxxie's head back and presses his fingers to the blonde boy's neck. "Fuck, shit," Chris muttered to himself. He began to perform chest compressions, and after he'd done thirty, he pinched Maxxie's nose and forced his mouth open before doing two recovery breaths. He knows Maxxie's life is hanging in the balance, and it's his fault that he's in this state. It's as if no one else was there apart from the two of them.

Suddenly Maxxie's eyes flew open and he sat up, and began to cough, water pouring out of his mouth and nose.

"Guys? W-What's g-going on? So m-much water…" he muttered between coughs. Anwar and Jal held him steady, and Chris' jaw dropped and he stared at Maxxie.

"MAXXIE!" Sid exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"Well… yeah, it appears so," Maxxie retorted sarcastically. "Hey, w-why am I n-naked? It's freezing!"

Chris glanced to the ground, not being able to face him. "We dared you to go swimming in the lake. It's my fault Max, I almost killed you."

"Don't be a twat, how is it your fault?" Maxxie replied with furrowed eyebrows.

Chris signed, lifting his head and locking his eyes with Maxxie's. "I pressured you into it, you said you didn't wait to but I made you. Look what happened, you could have died. If I hadn't been a dick and pushed you to do it, none of this would have happened." Maxxie lifted a hand to Chris' face and cupped his cheek.

"It's not your fault, it's mine. I would have done it anyway; I always do all the dares. It's only a bit of water; it's like a bath - just deeper…and colder."

Chris groaned. "But I was the one who forced you to! You didn't want to jump in but I still made you to it. If I hadn't had said anything, you'd be fine. I'm such a fucking idiot; it's all my fault - I should have remembered that -"

Chris is interrupted by Maxxie crashing his lips onto his. Chris' breath hitched and he wrapped his arms around Maxxie's neck defensively. Maxxie smirked and began to deepen the kiss, caressing Chris' neck and gently running his fingers through Chris' wet hair. Chris pulled back and pressed his forehead against Maxxie's, staring into his eyes.

"W-What was that?" Chris stammered, letting out the breath he didn't realise he was holding.

Maxxie blushed ferociously, remembering the presence of the rest of the group. A group of paramedics approached, wrapping the shivering pair in foil sheets in order to preserve their body heat.

Chris and Maxxie's eyesight didn't once falter. "I-uh, thank you." Maxxie muttered.

"Thank you for what?" Chris gawped in disbelief, still shocked that his best mate had kissed him.

"Thank you," Maxxie repeated. "You saved my life."

A smile tugged at Chris' features at the two boys were bundled into the back of an ambulance. Chris took Maxxie's hand in his own.

"It was nothing," Chris replied, a blush tinting his cheeks. "You'd do the same for me, wouldn't you?"

"In a heartbeat," Maxxie replied without hesitation.

Chris grinned in response. "Always?"

Maxxie nodded. "Forever and always, until the day I die."


End file.
